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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Man Booker International Prize

Finalists have been announced for the 2011 Man Booker International Prize! Awarded every two years for achievements in fiction, this year's winner will be announced May 18 at the Sydney Writers' Festival. The winner will also be honored at an awards ceremony June 28 in London.

Interestingly, The Telegraph in the U.K. reports that Le Carré has asked to be removed from the finalists, saying, "I am enormously flattered to be named as a finalist of the 2011 Man Book International Prize. However, I do not compete for literary prizes and have therefore asked for my name to be withdrawn." Read the full article here:

Previous winners of the Man International Prize include Alice Munro (Canada, 2009), Chinua Achebe (Nigeria, 2007), Ismail Kadare (Albania, 2005). This year will be only the fourth Man Booker International Prize, which celebrates a writer's entire body of work as a contribution.